Year: 2014

Given that the wish to be happy is universal, you’d think that happiness would be a core subject at school, and that we’d all be pretty expert on happiness and its causes. But the truth is, most people are somewhat hazy about it. The title of a recent book by Daniel Gilbert, Prof of Psychology...

Just sharing the video of the short talk I gave recently to launch Why Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate at The Bodhi Tree Book Cafe. Thank you to Karen Kotze and the wonderful team at The Bodhi Tree for making the evening such a success. Thanks also Graham and Scott for your help with the...

As a regular gym goer, as well as long-term meditator, I am often struck by the similarities between mind training and physical training. The same rules that apply to an exercise regime – be that the gym, yoga, bike riding or running – also generally apply to meditation and mindfulness. Here are a few of...

Mindfulness is ’paying attention to the present moment deliberately and non-judgmentally.’ This is perhaps the most widely-accepted definition. If you were to ask a room of 30 people to practise mindfulness for a minute, and then asked them what they’d been mindful of, chances are you’d get a variety of answers, ranging from mindfulness...

Dear Fellow Meditators and Readers, FIVE FREE COPIES OF ‘WHY MINDFULNESS IS BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE’ UP FOR GRABS I am delighted to let you know that that I’ll be mailing free, signed copies of my new book to the FIVE winners of a raffle, held over the next week. Entering the raffle is free of...

One of biggest challenges faced by newcomers to meditation is getting into the habit of meditating. We may start with the best intentions. After going to a meditation seminar, reading a book, or listening to an inspiring speaker we may decide: this is it! I’m convinced by the many benefits. I want to make meditation...

I recently had the very good fortune of hearing Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi deliver a presentation at the Happiness & Its Causes conference on one of the concepts for which he is world-famous: flow. ‘Flow’ is the state of being we all experience – however briefly or infrequently – when we become completely immersed in whatever...

One of the biggest challenges faced by people wanting to meditate is a very simple one: where do I start? When during my busy day should I do it? How can I make the time? And now that I’m sitting in a quiet room, what meditation practice should I use? My book, Why Mindfulness is...

I am delighted to be sharing the first chapter of my book, Why Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate right here! For readers in USA, Canada and UK, the book is called just Mindfulness is Better than Chocolate. It has a different cover, but the same mouth-watering content! CHAPTER ONE All of human unhappiness is due...

In a previous blog I mentioned some of the references in The Dalai Lama’s Cat to one of my all time favourite novels, The Great Gatsby (see: http://davidmichie.com/blog/2013/12/03/the-dalai-lamas-dog/) In this blog I’d like to share a little snippet about the exchanges between the Dalai Lama’s Cat (HHC) and Mambo, her love interest. Mambo is a...

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